There are so many rules in road and become such a standard worldwide, such as traffic light, zebra cross, and also driving side, but right now I want to explain about driving side, because I think it´s interesting to know some reason and also history behind this driving side.
There are two rules regarding driving side. Some countries adapt driving on the left side, some countries adapt driving on the right side.
Right now there are around 34 % Left-Hand Traffic countries, so the rest 66 % are Right- Hand Traffic. And roughly 28 % of the world’s total road distance carries traffic on the left, and 72 % on the right(1). And mostly countries ex British colonies adapt Left Hand Traffic. And actually there are some good reasons behind this.
In the past, almost everybody travelled on the left side of the road because that was the most sensible option for feudal, violent societies. Since most people are right-handed, swordsmen preferred to keep to the left in order to have their right arm nearer to an opponent and their scabbard further from him. Moreover, it reduced the chance of the scabbard (worn on the left) hitting other people.
History & Origin
In the late 1700s France and the United States began hauling farm products in big wagons pulled by several pairs of horses. These wagons had no driver’s seat. So the driver sat on the left rear horse, so he could keep his right arm free to lash the horses. Since he was sitting on the left, he naturally wanted everybody to pass on the left side so he could look down and make sure he kept clear of the oncoming wagon’s wheels. And he stayed in the right side of the road.
French Revolution in 1789 gave a huge impact to right-hand travel in Europe. The fact is, before that, the aristocracy travelled on the left of the road, and forcing the farmer society over to the right. But after the storming of the Bastille and some events after that, aristocrats preferred to keep low profile and also travelled on the right. An official keep-right rule was introduced in Paris in 1794, more or less parallel to Denmark, where driving on the right had been made obligatory in 1793.
Later, Napoleon's conquests spread the new rightism to the Low Countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Russia and many parts of Spain and Italy. But there were also some Countries which resisted Napoleon and kept left, such as Britain, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Portugal. These two rules remained more than 100 years, until after the First World War.
This driving on the right-hand became trend among nations, but Britain tried not to follow this trend. With expansion of travel and road building in the 1800s, traffic regulations were made in every country, so Left-hand driving became mandatory in Britain in 1835. And this also affected Countries which were part of British Empire. That’s why India, Australasia and the former British colonies in Africa go left. Except Egypt, which had been conquered by Napoleon before becoming a British dependency.
Japan also has rule to drive in left although Japan was never part of British Empire. The origin of this habit goes back to the Edo period (1603-1867) when Samurai ruled the country. However it was just in 1872 this unwritten rule became more or less official. This year was also when Japan’s railway was first introduced, built with technical aid from British. After that many network of railways and tram tracks was built. And of course all drove on the left-hand side. But it needed another half century until in 1924 this rule become official and written in law.
This Left-Hand driving also impacted Indonesia when Dutch came in 1596. Napoleon’s conquest of Netherlands changed the driving side of Dutch to Right-Hand. This did not impact again to Indonesia and also Suriname.
Driving side of North America also in Left-Hand, because they were part of British’s colonization. But after they got their independence from British, this driving side gradually changed. The first law requiring drivers to keep right was passed in Pennsylvania in 1792, after that in New York in 1804 and New Jersey in 1813.
Same situation also happened in Canada, at first they followed US Left-Hand driving. And shortly after Second World War, parts of Canada which controlled by French (from Quebec to Louisiana) drove on the right, the rest stayed in left. In 1920 British Columbia and the Atlantic provinces switched to the right, in order to conform with the rest of Canada and the USA. But Newfoundland still drove in the left until 1947, and joined Canada in 1949.
When Germany annexed Austria in 1938, Hitler ordered that traffic should change from the left to the right in one night. This became disaster because drivers couldn’t see the road sign. Czechoslovakia and Hungary were one of the last states on the mainland of Europe to keep left. But they changed to right after invaded by Germany in 1939.
Meanwhile American cars were designed to be driven on the right. With the mass production of reliable and economical cars in the US, many countries imported cars from the US and changed their driving orientation.
In 1960s, Great Britain also considered changing, but this will cost billions of pounds, and also it wasn’t easy work. So they dropped this idea.
Today only for European countries still drive on the left: The United Kingdom, Ireland, Cyprus and Malta(2)
Map and List of Left- and Right-Hand Driving Countries
List of left-driving countries
The following is a list of countries of the world whose inhabitants drive on the left-hand side of the road. Most of the drivers of these countries use right-hand-drive vehicles.
1. Anguilla
2. Antigua and Barbuda
3. Australia
4. Bahamas
5. Bangladesh
6. Barbados
7. Bermuda
8. Bhutan
9. Botswana
10. Brunei
11. Cayman Islands
12. Christmas Island (Australia)
13. Cook Islands
14. Cyprus
15. Dominica
16. East Timor
17. Falkland Islands
18. Fiji
19. Grenada
20. Guernsey (Channel Islands)
21. Guyana
22. Hong Kong
23. India
24. Indonesia
25. Ireland
26. Isle of Man
27. Jamaica
28. Japan
29. Jersey (Channel Islands)
30. Kenya
31. Kiribati
32. Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Australia)
33. Lesotho
34. Macau
35. Malawi
36. Malaysia
37. Maldives
38. Malta
39. Mauritius
40. Montserrat
41. Mozambique
42. Namibia
43. Nauru
44. Nepal
45. New Zealand
46. Niue
47. Norfolk Island (Australia)
48. Pakistan
49. Papua New Guinea
50. Pitcairn Islands (Britain)
51. Saint Helena
52. Saint Kitts and Nevis
53. Saint Lucia
54. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
55. Seychelles
56. Singapore
57. Solomon Islands
58. South Africa
59. Sri Lanka
60. Suriname
61. Swaziland
62. Tanzania
63. Thailand
64. Tokelau (New Zealand)
65. Tonga
66. Trinidad and Tobago
67. Turks and Caicos Islands
68. Tuvalu
69. Uganda
70. United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland)
71. Virgin Islands (British)
72. Virgin Islands (US)
73. Zambia
74. Zimbabwe
List of right-driving countries
The following is a list of countries of the world whose inhabitants drive on the right-hand side of the road. Most of the drivers of these countries use left-hand-drive vehicles.
1. Afghanistan
2. Albania
3. Algeria
4. American Samoa
5. Andorra
6. Angola
7. Argentina
8. Armenia
9. Aruba
10. Austria
11. Azerbaijan
12. Bahrain
13. Belarus
14. Belgium
15. Belize
16. Benin
17. Bolivia
18. Bosnia and Herzegovina
19. Brazil
20. British Indian Ocean Territory (Diego García)
21. Bulgaria
22. Burkina Faso
23. Burundi
24. Cambodia
25. Cameroon
26. Canada
27. Cape Verde
28. Central African Republic
29. Chad
30. Chile
31. China, People's Republic of (Mainland China)
32. Colombia
33. Comoros
34. Congo
35. Congo (former Republic of Zaire)
36. Costa Rica
37. Croatia
38. Cuba
39. Czech Republic
40. Denmark
41. Djibouti
42. Dominican Republic
43. Ecuador
44. Egypt
45. El Salvador
46. Equatorial Guinea
47. Eritrea
48. Estonia
49. Ethiopia
50. Faroe Islands (Denmark)
51. Finland
52. France
53. French Guiana
54. French Polynesia
55. Gabon
56. Gambia, The
57. Gaza Strip
58. Georgia
59. Germany
60. Ghana
61. Gibraltar
62. Greece
63. Greenland
64. Guadeloupe (French West Indies)
65. Guam
66. Guatemala
67. Guinea
68. Guinea-Bissau
69. Haiti
70. Honduras
71. Hungary
72. Iceland
73. Iran
74. Iraq
75. Israel
76. Italy
77. Ivory Coast
78. Jordan
79. Kazakhstan
80. Korea, Democratic People's Republic of (North Korea)
81. Korea, Republic of (South Korea)
82. Kuwait
83. Kyrgyzstan
84. Laos
85. Latvia
86. Lebanon
87. Liberia
88. Libya
89. Liechtenstein
90. Lithuania
91. Luxembourg
92. Macedonia
93. Madagascar
94. Mali
95. Marshall Islands
96. Martinique (French West Indies)
97. Mauritania
98. Mayotte (France)
99. Mexico
100. Micronesia, Federated States of
101. Midway Islands (USA)
102. Moldova
103. Monaco
104. Mongolia
105. Morocco
106. Myanmar (formerly Burma)
107. Netherlands
108. Netherlands Antilles (Curaçao, St. Maarten, St. Eustatius, Saba)
109. New Caledonia
110. Nicaragua
111. Niger
112. Nigeria
113. Northern Mariana Islands
114. Norway
115. Oman
116. Palau
117. Panama
118. Paraguay
119. Peru
120. Philippines
121. Poland
122. Portugal
123. Puerto Rico
124. Qatar
125. Réunion
126. Romania
127. Russia
128. Rwanda
129. Saint Barthélemy (French West Indies)
130. Saint Martin (French West Indies)
131. Saint Pierre and Miquelon (France)
132. Samoa
133. San Marino
134. Sao Tome e Principe
135. Saudi Arabia
136. Senegal
137. Serbia and Montenegro
138. Sierra Leone
139. Slovakia
140. Slovenia
141. Somalia
142. Spain
143. Sudan
144. Svalbard (Norway)
145. Sweden
146. Switzerland
147. Syria
148. Taiwan
149. Tajikistan
150. Togo
151. Tunisia
152. Turkey
153. Turkmenistan
154. Ukraine
155. United Arab Emirates
156. United States
157. Uruguay
158. Uzbekistan
159. Vanuatu
160. Venezuela
161. Vietnam
162. Wake Island (USA)
163. Wallis and Futuna Islands (France)
164. West Bank
165. Western Sahara
166. Yemen
Conclusion Why Left or Right
The reason why some countries drive on the left and some drive on the right, first of all, it’s based on history on this country itself. Such as there are some countries adapt new driving orientation after they became conquest of a country, there are also some countries adapt a driving orientation because this is like part of their history in the past, such as Japan, since beginning it has driving orientation on the left and still on the left until now. Another reason is also because of some politics and economics aspects, such as, after automobiles industries in US became big, there are some countries which change their driving orientation to right which follow US. And I think it’s also like habit, it’s true at the beginning that people with right-hand orientation prefer driving on the left side, but it’s not really such a big matter when because of some reasons they must change their driving orientation to the right, as an example we can see, some trucks drivers in Europe can go from a country with right-hand side such as France to UK which has left-hand side without much trouble.
Table of Contents
By Felik Budyanto
Introduction
There are so many rules in road and become such a standard worldwide, such as traffic light, zebra cross, and also driving side, but right now I want to explain about driving side, because I think it´s interesting to know some reason and also history behind this driving side.There are two rules regarding driving side. Some countries adapt driving on the left side, some countries adapt driving on the right side.
Right now there are around 34 % Left-Hand Traffic countries, so the rest 66 % are Right- Hand Traffic. And roughly 28 % of the world’s total road distance carries traffic on the left, and 72 % on the right(1). And mostly countries ex British colonies adapt Left Hand Traffic. And actually there are some good reasons behind this.
In the past, almost everybody travelled on the left side of the road because that was the most sensible option for feudal, violent societies. Since most people are right-handed, swordsmen preferred to keep to the left in order to have their right arm nearer to an opponent and their scabbard further from him. Moreover, it reduced the chance of the scabbard (worn on the left) hitting other people.
History & Origin
In the late 1700s France and the United States began hauling farm products in big wagons pulled by several pairs of horses. These wagons had no driver’s seat. So the driver sat on the left rear horse, so he could keep his right arm free to lash the horses. Since he was sitting on the left, he naturally wanted everybody to pass on the left side so he could look down and make sure he kept clear of the oncoming wagon’s wheels. And he stayed in the right side of the road.French Revolution in 1789 gave a huge impact to right-hand travel in Europe. The fact is, before that, the aristocracy travelled on the left of the road, and forcing the farmer society over to the right. But after the storming of the Bastille and some events after that, aristocrats preferred to keep low profile and also travelled on the right. An official keep-right rule was introduced in Paris in 1794, more or less parallel to Denmark, where driving on the right had been made obligatory in 1793.
Later, Napoleon's conquests spread the new rightism to the Low Countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Russia and many parts of Spain and Italy. But there were also some Countries which resisted Napoleon and kept left, such as Britain, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Portugal. These two rules remained more than 100 years, until after the First World War.
This driving on the right-hand became trend among nations, but Britain tried not to follow this trend. With expansion of travel and road building in the 1800s, traffic regulations were made in every country, so Left-hand driving became mandatory in Britain in 1835. And this also affected Countries which were part of British Empire. That’s why India, Australasia and the former British colonies in Africa go left. Except Egypt, which had been conquered by Napoleon before becoming a British dependency.
Japan also has rule to drive in left although Japan was never part of British Empire. The origin of this habit goes back to the Edo period (1603-1867) when Samurai ruled the country. However it was just in 1872 this unwritten rule became more or less official. This year was also when Japan’s railway was first introduced, built with technical aid from British. After that many network of railways and tram tracks was built. And of course all drove on the left-hand side. But it needed another half century until in 1924 this rule become official and written in law.
This Left-Hand driving also impacted Indonesia when Dutch came in 1596. Napoleon’s conquest of Netherlands changed the driving side of Dutch to Right-Hand. This did not impact again to Indonesia and also Suriname.
Driving side of North America also in Left-Hand, because they were part of British’s colonization. But after they got their independence from British, this driving side gradually changed. The first law requiring drivers to keep right was passed in Pennsylvania in 1792, after that in New York in 1804 and New Jersey in 1813.
Same situation also happened in Canada, at first they followed US Left-Hand driving. And shortly after Second World War, parts of Canada which controlled by French (from Quebec to Louisiana) drove on the right, the rest stayed in left. In 1920 British Columbia and the Atlantic provinces switched to the right, in order to conform with the rest of Canada and the USA. But Newfoundland still drove in the left until 1947, and joined Canada in 1949.
When Germany annexed Austria in 1938, Hitler ordered that traffic should change from the left to the right in one night. This became disaster because drivers couldn’t see the road sign. Czechoslovakia and Hungary were one of the last states on the mainland of Europe to keep left. But they changed to right after invaded by Germany in 1939.
Meanwhile American cars were designed to be driven on the right. With the mass production of reliable and economical cars in the US, many countries imported cars from the US and changed their driving orientation.
In 1960s, Great Britain also considered changing, but this will cost billions of pounds, and also it wasn’t easy work. So they dropped this idea.
Today only for European countries still drive on the left: The United Kingdom, Ireland, Cyprus and Malta(2)
Map and List of Left- and Right-Hand Driving Countries
List of left-driving countries
The following is a list of countries of the world whose inhabitants drive on the left-hand side of the road. Most of the drivers of these countries use right-hand-drive vehicles.2. Antigua and Barbuda
3. Australia
4. Bahamas
5. Bangladesh
6. Barbados
7. Bermuda
8. Bhutan
9. Botswana
10. Brunei
11. Cayman Islands
12. Christmas Island (Australia)
13. Cook Islands
14. Cyprus
15. Dominica
16. East Timor
17. Falkland Islands
18. Fiji
19. Grenada
20. Guernsey (Channel Islands)
21. Guyana
22. Hong Kong
23. India
24. Indonesia
25. Ireland
27. Jamaica
28. Japan
29. Jersey (Channel Islands)
30. Kenya
31. Kiribati
32. Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Australia)
33. Lesotho
34. Macau
35. Malawi
36. Malaysia
37. Maldives
38. Malta
39. Mauritius
40. Montserrat
41. Mozambique
42. Namibia
43. Nauru
44. Nepal
45. New Zealand
46. Niue
47. Norfolk Island (Australia)
48. Pakistan
49. Papua New Guinea
50. Pitcairn Islands (Britain)
52. Saint Kitts and Nevis
53. Saint Lucia
54. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
55. Seychelles
56. Singapore
57. Solomon Islands
58. South Africa
59. Sri Lanka
60. Suriname
61. Swaziland
62. Tanzania
63. Thailand
64. Tokelau (New Zealand)
65. Tonga
66. Trinidad and Tobago
67. Turks and Caicos Islands
68. Tuvalu
69. Uganda
70. United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland)
71. Virgin Islands (British)
72. Virgin Islands (US)
73. Zambia
74. Zimbabwe
List of right-driving countries
The following is a list of countries of the world whose inhabitants drive on the right-hand side of the road. Most of the drivers of these countries use left-hand-drive vehicles.2. Albania
3. Algeria
4. American Samoa
5. Andorra
6. Angola
7. Argentina
8. Armenia
9. Aruba
10. Austria
11. Azerbaijan
12. Bahrain
13. Belarus
14. Belgium
15. Belize
16. Benin
17. Bolivia
18. Bosnia and Herzegovina
19. Brazil
20. British Indian Ocean Territory (Diego García)
21. Bulgaria
22. Burkina Faso
23. Burundi
24. Cambodia
25. Cameroon
26. Canada
27. Cape Verde
28. Central African Republic
29. Chad
30. Chile
31. China, People's Republic of (Mainland China)
32. Colombia
33. Comoros
34. Congo
35. Congo (former Republic of Zaire)
36. Costa Rica
37. Croatia
38. Cuba
39. Czech Republic
40. Denmark
41. Djibouti
42. Dominican Republic
43. Ecuador
44. Egypt
45. El Salvador
46. Equatorial Guinea
47. Eritrea
48. Estonia
49. Ethiopia
50. Faroe Islands (Denmark)
51. Finland
52. France
53. French Guiana
54. French Polynesia
55. Gabon
56. Gambia, The
58. Georgia
59. Germany
60. Ghana
61. Gibraltar
62. Greece
63. Greenland
64. Guadeloupe (French West Indies)
65. Guam
66. Guatemala
67. Guinea
68. Guinea-Bissau
69. Haiti
70. Honduras
71. Hungary
72. Iceland
73. Iran
74. Iraq
75. Israel
76. Italy
77. Ivory Coast
78. Jordan
79. Kazakhstan
80. Korea, Democratic People's Republic of (North Korea)
81. Korea, Republic of (South Korea)
82. Kuwait
83. Kyrgyzstan
84. Laos
85. Latvia
86. Lebanon
87. Liberia
88. Libya
89. Liechtenstein
90. Lithuania
91. Luxembourg
92. Macedonia
93. Madagascar
94. Mali
95. Marshall Islands
96. Martinique (French West Indies)
97. Mauritania
98. Mayotte (France)
99. Mexico
100. Micronesia, Federated States of
101. Midway Islands (USA)
102. Moldova
103. Monaco
104. Mongolia
105. Morocco
106. Myanmar (formerly Burma)
107. Netherlands
108. Netherlands Antilles (Curaçao, St. Maarten, St. Eustatius, Saba)
109. New Caledonia
110. Nicaragua
111. Niger
112. Nigeria
114. Norway
115. Oman
116. Palau
117. Panama
118. Paraguay
119. Peru
120. Philippines
121. Poland
122. Portugal
123. Puerto Rico
124. Qatar
125. Réunion
126. Romania
127. Russia
128. Rwanda
129. Saint Barthélemy (French West Indies)
130. Saint Martin (French West Indies)
131. Saint Pierre and Miquelon (France)
132. Samoa
133. San Marino
134. Sao Tome e Principe
135. Saudi Arabia
136. Senegal
137. Serbia and Montenegro
138. Sierra Leone
139. Slovakia
140. Slovenia
141. Somalia
142. Spain
143. Sudan
144. Svalbard (Norway)
145. Sweden
146. Switzerland
147. Syria
148. Taiwan
149. Tajikistan
150. Togo
151. Tunisia
152. Turkey
153. Turkmenistan
154. Ukraine
155. United Arab Emirates
156. United States
157. Uruguay
158. Uzbekistan
159. Vanuatu
160. Venezuela
161. Vietnam
162. Wake Island (USA)
163. Wallis and Futuna Islands (France)
164. West Bank
165. Western Sahara
166. Yemen
Conclusion Why Left or Right
The reason why some countries drive on the left and some drive on the right, first of all, it’s based on history on this country itself. Such as there are some countries adapt new driving orientation after they became conquest of a country, there are also some countries adapt a driving orientation because this is like part of their history in the past, such as Japan, since beginning it has driving orientation on the left and still on the left until now. Another reason is also because of some politics and economics aspects, such as, after automobiles industries in US became big, there are some countries which change their driving orientation to right which follow US. And I think it’s also like habit, it’s true at the beginning that people with right-hand orientation prefer driving on the left side, but it’s not really such a big matter when because of some reasons they must change their driving orientation to the right, as an example we can see, some trucks drivers in Europe can go from a country with right-hand side such as France to UK which has left-hand side without much trouble.References
**http://users.telenet.be/worldstandards/driving%20on%20the%20left.htm#history**
**http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_on_the_left_or_right**